The Jalisco Taqueria

Austin is littered with small hole in the wall Mexican restaurants that are typically labeled Jalisco style.   These taquerias are nearly always a zero on the atmosphere scale but with indifferent staff, amazing bargains and tasty food I cannot recommend them enough.

My plan when hunting for tacos is usually to stop at the first one I see.  When in the right areas of town it never take long.   I'm usually amazed at their consistent menus, prices and food quality.   For today I stumbled onto Taquerias Las Chivas on North Lamar near Rundberg and 183.

On the day I arrived it was fairly empty so getting a table was quick. As usual there was a jukebox playing Tejano, Jalisco (a Mexican state) inspired decor and the building was in need of some TLC.    I was also pleased to see the credit card stickers on the door.

As the waitress arrived she started in Spanish but unfortunately mine is rusty.  A friendly "excuse me?" encouraged her to switch to English.  I flipped to the taco section of the menu and found they had 4 taquitas (little tacos) and beans for $6... excellent.   My favorite meat is al pastor (think pineapple marinated, spiced pork) so I usually start there.  In a future post I will cover pastor in more detail.    For the other 2 tacos I selected barbacoa.  This also warrants more discussion as what falls under the description of barbacoa can very wildely from place to place.  The 4 taquitos combined combined with the beans, chips and authentic salsas is a cheap, filling meal for the quality and price.

Needless to say lunch was amazing and I would plan to return if it wasn't for so many other establishments I need to visit.

  

Torchy's Tacos

No conversation of tacos in or around Austin would be complete with a mention of Torchy's. Whether your preference or not you can't deny they are an institution.

Picture borrowed for Torchy's menu, they get the credit

As one would expect by the time I finished writing the Taco Theory introduction I was quite ready for some tacos.  Since there's a Torchy's close a quick shot over was well in order and, in my opinion, quite deserved.

Torchy's falls under the category of specialty tacos.   Them menu contains a vast array of options my personal favorite is the Green Chili Pork. Here are some other examples

THE INDEPENDENT
Hand-Battered and Fried
Portobello Mushroom strips w/ refried beans
Roasted Corn, Escabeche, Carrots, Queso Fresco,
Cilantro and Avocado Drizzled with Ancho Aiolo

THE DEMOCRAT

Picture borrowed for Torchy's menu, they get the credit

Shredded beef barbacoa topped with fresh avocado, queso fresco, cilantro, ones and a wedge of lime.  Served with tomatillo salsa.

My recommendation is to just order the taco of the month. And actually order 2.  One taco just leaves you wanting more.  If you are dining-in the queso and street corn are highly recommended.

http://torchystacos.com/

Taco Theory

The Taco Theory is simple.  The functional and aesthetic design of the taco provides for the optimal loss of calories prior to eating.  In other words, tacos don't have calories so you are hereby approved to eat as many as you want. Secondly, as the universal representation of Mexican food the taco is the optimal measuring stick to judge the quality of a restaurant.

Fig 1 - The crispy taco

While I have no so-called "scientific" evidence to back this theory.  I seem to recall that I read a study where "they" claimed the lack of calories to be the case.  Armed with this fabulous news I am on a mission to conquer the taco.  Admittedly I arrive here with a bias based on years of taco goodness. However, moving forward I will do my best to never attempt any degree of impartiality and to utterly and without mercy or prejudice inflict my opinions on those dear few who may actually read this.

My qualifications to identify, eat, review, eat, make, eat and finally eat tacos are many.  Growing up in Central Texas with family roots in South Texas Mexican/Tex-Mex food is a way of life. As my go-to genre for comfort and the plethora of options I needed to find a way to compare the quality of restaurants on an apple-to-apple - now taco-to-taco basis.

The ubiquitous Taco can be broken down into several classifications.  The first and most pervasive is the crispy taco (fig 1). While common in all manor of tex-mex establishments this is far and away my least favorite.  Due to the rigid nature of the shell the options for fillings tend to be limited to ground beef, "taco spice" (which is invariably mostly chili power and cumin), iceberg lettuce, raw tomatoes and bland cheese.  Variations do exist but in my nary scientific methodology I surmise they are all the same.  Regardless, I will review and comment on these.  For the sake of accuracy and equality I will also break my 10+ year avoidance of the annoying "Taco" franchise we have all seen so many commercials for.  I do this for you.

Fig 2 - the Taco

The second major classification - and where I will spend most of my time - is the soft taco.  I hate calling it this because this is really just the taco as I will furthermore refer to it.  The taco can then be broken into two groups. First is the more traditional street tacos which are made mostly of a meat filling and simple toppings most notably cilantro and onions with possibly some hot sauce.  Second is everything else.  There is a growing trend for specialty boutique tacos that include anything from traditional meets to a wild mix of ingredients and fusion.  I do not mean to imply these are sub par or any less a taco then their traditional counterparts.  On the contrary the explosion of specialty tacos and vendors have revived interest in the taco as a dietary staple.

I continue the journey I began so many years ago. But now, with you (dear few) following as I explore the taco.  Along the way I will comment (review) other items that are not always tacos but with hopefully some connection. For example, beer is the best accouterments to the taco and therefore should also be reviewed in kind.  You get the idea.

The observant tacocionado will notice that I made no mention of breakfast tacos.  This is no slant on their quality or position of importance to me.  I just consider them an entirely different thing.